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lipid
Lipids are fatty acid esters, a class of water-insoluble
organic molecules, that are used as basic building blocks of biological
membranes, as well as for energy storage (e.g., triglycerides). Lipids consist
of a polar or hydrophilic (attracted to water) head and one to three nonpolar or
hydrophobic (repelled by water) tails. The hydrophobic tail consists of one or
two (in triglycerides, three) fatty acids. These are unbranched chains of carbon
atoms (with the correct number of H atoms), which are connected by single bonds
alone (saturated fatty acids) or by both single and double
bonds (unsaturated fatty acids). The chains are usually 14-24
carbon groups long.
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